Thanks for reading.
Holden Evening Prayer - peace reflection
September 21, 2022
Numbers 6:24-26
John 14:27
Colossians 3:15
Thanks to the calendar hanging on my office wall, I learned that today is the International Day of Peace, also known as World Peace Day. It is celebrated annually on September 21 and is devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples. At a time when war and violence often monopolize our news cycles, the International Day of Peace is an inspiring reminder of what we can greater together: peace.
In 1981, the United Nations General Assembly declared the third Tuesday of September as International Day of Peace. This day coincided with the opening day of the annual sessions of the General Assembly. The purpose of the day was and still remains, to strengthen the ideals of peace around the world.
Two decades after establishing this day of observance, in 2001, the assembly moved the date to be observed annually on September 21. So, beginning in 2002, September 21 marks not only a time to discuss how to promote and maintain peace among all peoples but also a 24-hour period of global ceasefire and non-violence for groups in active combat.
Life is better in a world where peace exists and, today, we look to those who have been peacemakers and peacekeepers to learn what we can each do individually to make the world a more peaceful place.
I believe there are small steps that each of us can take to move toward greater moments of peace.
As
John Dear writes,
“Peace begins with each of us. It is a process of repeatedly showing mercy to ourselves, forgiving ourselves, befriending ourselves, accepting ourselves. As we learn to appreciate ourselves and accept God’s gift of peace, we begin to radiate peace and love to others.”
So may the following be ideas or opportunities for you to work toward peace in the next day, week or year.
"Mend
a quarrel
Search out a forgotten friend
Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust
Write a love letter
Share some treasures
Give a soft answer
Encourage youth
Manifest
your loyalty in a word or deed
Keep a promise
Find the time
Forego a grudge
Forgive an enemy
Listen
Apologize if you were wrong
Try
to understand
Flout envy
Examine your demands on others
Think first of someone else
Appreciate, be kind, be gentle
Laugh a little more.
Deserve confidence
Take
up arms against malice
Decry complacency
Express your gratitude
Worship your God
Gladden the heart of a child
Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth
Speak
your love
Speak it again
Speak it still again
Speak it still once again...." (Author
unknown)
In the words of St. Francis, let us pray,
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace;
Where there is hated, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, harmony;
Where there is error, truth;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born into eternal life.
And
now may the peace, which surpasses all understanding keep our hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus, and let all God’s people say, amen.
*******************************************
September 18, 2022
Amos 8:4-7
Psalm 113
1 Timothy 2:1-7
Luke 16: 1-13
Please
pray with me,
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable and suitable in your sight, O God, our rock, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.
How
good is it to be here.
Together.
This
is new for us, right?
Being
all together at one service?
It’s
a good thing.
It’s a God thing.
I’m grateful for a day of homecoming, a day of celebration and a day of living into the new thing God is doing in us, among us, through us and around us.
Upon reading and rereading our gospel lesson this morning, in preparation for today, I thought, ugh.
As we talked about it at our clergy bible study this past week, most of us would have rather skipped this one today.
It’s
because it’s a tough one.
Shrewd
managing.
Quick
thinking.
Debt and forgiveness.
How
and where do we hear God in this passage?
How and where do we fit into this passage?
And
in preparation for today, I thought about this text and prayed about it.
I read it and reread it until I had completely overworked it in my head and heart and still didn’t have a sermon for today.
And
after I walked away from it for a while, I realized I was trying too hard.
Trying
too hard to unpack the confusing parts of this parable.
Trying too hard to find the gem of good news that would be simply perfect for today.
And
so taking a step away allowed me a new perspective.
And this is what it comes down to for me…today.
This
passage baffles us and is hard to hear.
It’s
baffling and it’s hard to wrap our minds around this passage because it throws
us for a loop.
Whenever
God steps in through the presence of Jesus things will change.
Whenever
God steps in through the presence of Jesus, we will need to expect the
unexpected…
From
the very beginning of the gospel of Luke we are given a heads up.
In
Mary’s proclamation of the Magnificat..
Filling
the hungry and sending the rich away empty
Lifting
up the poor
Scattering
the proud
Bringing down rulers and lifting the humble…
It
will be God’s great reversal.
So, we know it’s coming but every time it happens we’re like wait…what?
Many years back when Seth Meyers and Amy Pohler hosted Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live there was a segment they did called, “Really?!?! With Seth and Amy.”
Seth
and Amy would read a headline and respond with, Really?!?!
And as they dug deeper and deeper into that story, and they just couldn’t comprehend it, they would just say, Really?!?! Really?!?!
That
I think is how we respond to many of Jesus parables, especially in the gospel
of Luke. Last week we heard about the shepherd that left 99 sheep to
find the one. Really?!?!
You leave 99 sheep unprotected just to find one?
And the woman who nearly turned her house upside down for one coin. Really?!?!
And the story that comes between the parable of the lost coin and today’s reading is the story of the prodigal son. Really?!?
Jesus, the younger son
took his half of the inheritance and squandered it and will still welcomed back
home? Really?!?
And given the fatted calf? And a ring? And a party?!? Really?!?
I feel like we or maybe just me, connect too well with the other brother who can’t wrap his mind around how Grace filled the father is…and really, how loving and forgiving God is…not just in these stories but in our lives as well.
We have seen others forgiven their debts or mistakes or failures. And we’re like, really?!?
We see others welcomed with open arms to this table and we think really?!?!
How can this be??
And
yet…
You
and me, us together…we have all been forgiven of our faults, failures, and our
sin and are welcome here.
No questions asked.
So
I wonder, what makes us so jealous when others are welcomed as well?
When
others are forgiven as well?
When others are loved as well?
Surely it doesn’t mean that we receive less love, grace or forgiveness…all of those gifts from God are limitless…they will never run out.
I
bet all of us, myself included, have space to learn and continue to be shaped
into a community of faith that is ever expanding God’s table.
Because Jesus will keep inviting more and more people to it…just as they are, knowing that we, too, come just as we are.
So
here is the challenge of the gospel and the call set before us…
That we, you and I together, are called to continue to discover what it means to be the church…coming out of several challenging and tumultuous years, and continuing on in a post-pandemic world.
God
will continue to do new things.
In
us.
Through
us.
Among
us.
And beyond us.
God is doing something new at Trinity. Something that may feel different. Something that may take time to adjust to…but something that is being led by Jesus who constantly loves us, surprises us and calls us into this community of faith.
And here’s the thing. God has always been doing something new and will continue to do new things….through us or in spite of us.
One of the deep gifts of the history of this place is the willingness of the people to try new things knowing that there has never been one correct way or one correct place to do ministry. We have flipped this sanctuary, we have re-introduced a community parade, we have left the building to serve in our community, we worship with others online, we study together, we pray for one another and we eat together.
Sometime
within the last few years, I used the phrase ‘precipice of possibility’,
because that’s where I felt we were. On the edge of something new…but something
new that would and could require us to leap.
Perhaps that phrase was a bit daunting when I first mentioned it.
But
now, dear ones, we are here.
We are excited to move forward.
We
are excited to reconnect to God, both in this place and beyond the walls of
this place where God is already at work in the world.
We
are excited to reconnect to one another: in prayer, in worship, in service and
in fellowship.
We are excited for the possibilities and new ways they will take shape through the work of our hands guided by the Holy Spirit.
I
pray that together we continue to grow into the congregation and community of
faith that God has created us to be and who God continues to call us to
be.
Together.
And
now May the peace, which surpasses all understanding keep our hearts and minds
in Christ Jesus and let all God’s people say amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment